i as just diagnosed with hiv. i have serveral blood tests and with the most recent blood test my doctor said that i needed to start meds. he has put me on atripla. i am almost done with my 30 day supply and need to g o for another blood test to see what my numbers are. does atripla help fight my hiv and how long do i need to continue treatment via atripla? do i have to take it for the rest of my life?

Response from Dr. Frascino

Hello,

Sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. I'm amazed your doctor hasn't explained a bit more about HIV, Atripla and HIV management! I suggest you thoroughly review the wealth of information on this site and related links. Begin on The Body's homepage. Under the Quick Links heading you will find whole sections devoted to "Just Diagnosed" and "HIV Medication" among others.

Briefly, Atripla is a combination of three anti-HIV medications (efavirenz, emtricitabine and tenofovir). If effective it will decrease HIV replication, thereby reducing HIV viral load. As HIV plasma viral load declines, CD4 cells should increase. That is what you should be hoping for with your next blood test decreasing HIV plasma viral load and an increasing CD4 count. HIV/AIDS is at this time not curable. Consequently anti-HIV medication will need to be continued for life or at least until a cure is found.

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